Method of distilling coal.



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED APR. 30

O. A. GOBBE. METHOD OF DISTILLING GOAL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 10, 1906.

PATBNTED APR. 30, 1907.

0. A. GOBBE. METHOD OF DISTILLING GOAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1906.

2 SHBBTSSHBBT 2.

@0671, for flzc uzi 3/93 Q066 UNITE OLIVIER ANDRE GOBBE, OF JUMET, BELGIUM.

METHOD OF DISTILLING i COAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.

Application filed May 10 1906. erial No. 316,127.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLWIER ANDRE GOBBE, engineer, a subject of the King of Belgium, residing at Jumet, Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Method of Distilling Goal, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of distilling coal.

It is well known that the distillation of the coal could be carried out without use of fuel and even with a production of heat if it would be possible to recover entirely the heat carried away by the volatile products, the heat of the coke and the heat of the smoke, and if by peculiar dispositions it would be ossible to prevent the walls of the coke oven rom radiating heat.

In the methods heretofore used coal is introduced into the ovens or rctorts and the heat for the distillation thereof is conducted through refractory walls, but by such methods it is not possible to easily recover the lost heat; therefore they are not economical because the refractory walls transmit the heat slowly to the coal and under such condition it requires considerable time for distilling, phieh necessarily increases the amount of uel.

The method hereinafter set forth has for its object to expedite the distillation of the coal so as to decrease the fuel consumption and such advantage is obtained by causing the heat to pass directly through the coal in a manner as hereinafter more specifically referred to.

As showing by way of example an apparatus in which the method of distilling coal in accordance with this invention can be carried out, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an oven. Fig. 2 shows transversal sections of the ovens res eetively through the lines A A, B B, and G of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is partially a lan view artially sections through the lines D D, E and F F respectively of the ovens.

As shown on the drawings there are many sets of two ovens a a. In the following description and in the annexed drawings, like letters of reference denote corresponding arts in all the ovens but for the ovens a the etters of reference have the indexl and for the ovens (L2 they have the index 2. Each oven (1 is conjugated with the next oven a with. which it communicates through a series of parallel conduits I) occupying all the under part of the ovens. These conduits I) carry peculiar bricks which constitute trellised dead plates or soles c and c of the ovens. The openings in these dead plates or soles are sullieiently narrow for preventing the small coal passing through them.

The soles c c of the ovens constitute a wide refractory grate on which the coal to be distilled is spread. The walls of the conduits I) bear on longitudinal walls constituting other conduits d in which the cinder and dust of coal passing through the grates accumulate and are taken away from time to time by means of a scraper after having taken away the plugs f closing the ends of these conduits (1 d The gas escapes from the ovens through the openings 9 g or through the openings It, h An exhauster sucks up the gas escaping through 9 g in the conduit is and forces it through the conduit Z and an opening 'm ,'m controlled by a bell-shaped valve n or n in the ovens where the coal is distilled. Another exhauster not shown on the drawings communicates with the hydraulic main 0 and sucks up the excess of gas for sending it in the ordinary washers for collecting the condensable products before utilizing it for an industrial lighting or heating.

A conduit p communicating with a fan not shown through a pipe q allows air to be sent either into the ovens through the opening 1* or r or into the conduits I) through the open ings s and the conduit t, which distributes the air in a series of small vertical chimneys u opening in the conduits b.

The openings r or r" are controlled by bell shaped valves 0 o and the openings 8 by bell shaped valves to, w

Openings a," x are provided in the roof of the ovens and allow the charging of the ovens to be effected by means of trolleys as usually.

For use, these ovens are first heated as usually by burning wood for a suitable time. In order that the heat reaches also the under part of the ovens it is obli ed to pass through the soles by forcing air or instance in the oven a the flame thus passing downward through the holes of the sole 0, through the conduits b and then upward through the sole is in distillation in the oven a and w for air must be closed, the bell-shaped valve v onlybeing opened allowing thus air to be forced into the oven a When the ovens and the conduits b are well heated the :"oven a for instance is charged by spreading on its grate or sole a layer of coal having about four to eight inches in height. If all the valves remain in the state hereinbefore described, and if wood is again charged in the oven a and if air is forced into the said oven for burning this wood, the heat will pass through the coal in the oven (1 and this coal will distill rapidly and after a few hours the coal contained in the oven a will be wholly converted in coke. The ga'ses produced during this first batch are lost and escape through the openings 50 When this operation is ended, the oven a is charged with coal, and the gases of the oven a are obliged to pass through the hot coke of the oven (1 Where they are heated for bringing this heat and the heat of the conduits I) through the coal which In order to obtain such a circulation of the gases, the valve 12 and the openings ac and m are first closed, and the valve 9 and m are opened,

the exhauster 7' being set in motion. Under these conditions the gases of distillation are brought very hot under the sole of the oven a they pass then through the layer of coal in this furnace, leave there all their heat and the cold gases pass again from the oven a through the hot coke contained in the oven a and layer of coal in'the oven a will obviously produce a very rapid distillation, and thus the coking in the oven a will onlylast a few hours.

.As the volume of gases increases constantly during the distillation the excess is sucked up into the hydraulic main 0 by means of any suitable exhauster not shown on the drawings. These gases are washed by a known process for recovering the by products and are then used for lighting or heating purposes. When the coke of the oven a will become cold the coal in the oven a will be nearly wholly distilled. The oven a will then be emptied by means of a usual discharging device sending the coke on an even surface or into trolleys 2. Before discharging the oven a all the bell-shaped valves for gas and air of this oven must be closed in order to isolate it from the other ovens. As soon as it is discharged, it is heated again before charging asfollows: The openings are opened for allowing the smoke to escape, the

valves 91 and h are closed and the valves 12 and w are opened. The air of the conduit p which is always under pressure enters through the opening 1* in the oven a), passes downward through the layer of hot coke, burns a part of this coke producing carbonic oXid which is burned in the conduits b by the air sent through the chimneys u producing thus a flame which heats the conduits b the sole 0 and the oven 0, before escaping through the 7 5 openings m During this period, the coke in the oven 1 becomes rapidly very hot and the intense heat thus roduced is stored up in the conduits b, the so e c and the oven a When the whole is sufiiciently hot the oven (1 is charged, the air valves 0 and 'w are closed,- and the gas valves g k of the oven a and m of the oven (1 are opened. In such conditions, the gas of the oven a returns partially in the oven (1 in which it is forced by the cenits passage in the conduits b which are at a very high temperature and it arrives sufli-' ciently hot into contact with the coal in the oven a for insuring a rapid distillation. The excess of gas produced is constantly sucked up into the hydraulic main 0, is washed and 5 suitably used. As soon as the coke of the oven a, becomes cold the coal of the oven a is distilled if sufficient heat has been stored up in the conduits b and in the sole 0 during the preceding period, (this result can always I00 be practically obtained). The oven a, is then emptied, it is then again heated as hereinbefore described by sending air under pressure in the oven a burning thus a little part of the coke herein inclosed for storing up in 10 5 the conduits b and in the sole 0 the heat which are necessary for the following operation. These operations are repeated after each batch.

The coke obtained with the process herein- I 10 before described is light and of an inferior quality as it is partially burned by the air passing through it during the short period of reheating the ovens. This coke has a great likeness to the coke obtained in the gas man- I I 5 ufacture, but its saleable value remains very great as it can be used for private hearths or gas motors or even in gas producers if to the carbonic oXid produced the gas obtained by the distillation in the coke ovens are added.

This would be a good process for obtaining good Siemens gas with recovering a great quantity of by products, particularly the ammonia. It is obvious that as the hydrogen in the nascent state produced by the water 12 5 steam combines with the nitrogen in the 11ascent state produced by the coal, the passage of wet gases through the layer of coal in dis-- tillation will greatly increase the formation of the ammonia; consequently these appa- 13o ratus will produce more ammonia than the gas retorts and the coke ovens generally used.

\Vith the ovens forming the object of the invention metallurgic coke (2'. e. coke of sufficient density for being used in the blast furnaces) can be obtained by burning gas in the conduits b at the end of each operation instead of burning partially the coke. For obtaining this result when for instance the oven 0 has been emptied and the oven (1 is charged with hot coke, for heating the walls of the oven (1 the circulation of the gases is reversed by controlling the valves in order that the gas sucked up by the exhauster j be forced into the oven (L The gas will pass downward through the hot coke of the oven (1 and after through the conduits b in which it will be burned by the air coming through the chimneys u the valve w being opened. The flame thus produced will rapidly heat the conduits the sole 0 of the oven a and the inner part of this oven a before escaping through the openings x which are opened during this heating. In this operation the coke will not be burned and the cold gas carrying heavy carbureted hydrogens when passing through the hot coke will leave by dissociation a part of its carbon in the coke increasing thus the density of this coke.

The condensed tar can be assed through the hot coke in the ovens eit er by obliging the gases which are forced in the conduit Zto pass through the liquid tar for distilling it or by atomizing directly the tar in the gas increasing thus more the density of the coke which takes carbon from the vapors of tar. If gas having a high lighting power is to be obtained the decomposition of the heavy carbureted hydrogens is prevented by assing only through the ovens the not lig ting gas produced at the end of the distillation of each oven. It will be sufficient in this case to receive in the hydraulic main 0 all the gases having a high lighting power by opening the conduits h during t e first period of the distillation while the valves 9 remain closed. At the end of the distillation the conduits h are closed and the valves 9 opened in order that the exhauster sucks up constantly not lighting gas through the conduit k. This not lighting gas will be forced in the conduit Z for passing in the ovens. By such a rocess the gas obtained will be more lig ting than the gas obtained with the retorts generally used as this gas is freed from a part of the cor gas which has been burned in the con uits b. The coke produced will be more dense principally if the poor gases are passed through the liquid tar before forcing them in the conduit 1. This coke has also a greater compressive strength as it is no more subjected to a sudden cooling by cold water as usually. Instead of using the gas produced by the distillation of the coal, any suitable gas produced in an independent gas producer could be used. Water gas for instance could be used principally in plants where water gas is mixed with the distilled gas.

The new process for distilling the coal by internal heating is very advantageous because the gas which escape from the ovens will be cold. The layer of coal is converted into coke from top to bottom as in a gas producer consequently the gas is cold when it leaves the coal, during nearly all the duration of the distillation. The exchange of temperature is perfect between the gas and the coal or coke. The loss of heat by the hot gases or by the hot coke is thus prevented. The loss of heat by the radiation is reduced as the distillation is effected more rapidly than in the known processes, the dimension of the ovens being thus smaller for a given production. The economy of fuel is con siderable and simultaneously metallurgic 'coke, lighting gas and by products can be obtained.

Havin thus described and ascertained the nature of my invention and in what manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A'method of distilling coal which consists in forcing the heat from a bed of hot coke through a bed of coal, then passing gases iven off from the bed of coal through the hot bed of coke to heat such gases, and then forcing the heated gases through the distilling coal.

2. A method of distilling coal which consists in extracting heat from a body of new made coke and distilling a body of coal there with, then passing gases given off through the distillation of coal through the bed of coke thereby heating such gases, and then assing said gases through the bed of distiling coal.

3. A method of distilling coal which consists of extracting heat from a body of new made coke and distilling a body of coal therewith, then passing a part of the gases given ofi through the distillation of coal through the bed of coke, thereby heating such gases, then passing the gases through the bed of distilling coal, the excess of gases given off through the distillation of the coal being withdrawn.

4. A method of distillin coal which consists in coking a bed of coaI, then forcing the heatderived from the bed of new made coke througha bed of coal, thereby distilling the coal, then passing gases given off from the distilling of said bed of coal through the hot bed of coke thereby heating such gases, and then passin the heated gases through the bed of distilling coal.

5. A method of distillin coal which consists in coking a bed of coai then forcing the heat derived from the bed of new made coke through a bed of coal, thereby distilling the ooal, then passing (gases given off from the. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set distilling of said be of coal through the hot my hand in presence of two subscribingwitbed of coke thereby heating such gases, then nesses.

passing the heated gases through the-bed of r OLIVIER GOBBE. 5 distilling coal, the excess of gases given ofi Witnesses:

through the distillation of the coal being LoUIs JOSEPH BOUFFIOUR,

Withdrawn. NESTOR GHISOLAND. 

